Russia not only supplied the missiles that shot down MH17, but also allowed Ukrainian separatist fighters across the border to be trained in how to operate them, U.S intelligence has claimed.

Three BUK-M1 surface-to-air missile units, the type believed to have been used in the atrocity, were said to have been part of a convoy of 150 military vehicles that secretly crossed into Ukraine just days earlier.

Yesterday U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, turned up the heat on Russian president Vladimir Putin claiming there was a 'buildup of extraordinary circumstantial evidence' showing Russian involvement in the attack.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed Russia not only supplied the BUK missile launchers believed to have downed MH17, but allowed Ukrainian separatists into Russia to receive training in how to operate them

Recent footage has emerged of what is believed to be the BUK missile launcher used in the atrocity being smuggled out of Ukraine back into Russia

Mr Kerry, a former criminal prosecutor, said: 'It's pretty clear that this was a system transferred from Russia into the hands of the separatists.

'There's a stacking up of evidence here which Russia needs to help account for.

'We picked up the imagery of this launch. We know the trajectory. We know where it came from. We know the timing, and it was exactly at the time that this aircraft disappeared from the radar.

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'We also know from voice identification that the separatists were bragging about shooting it down afterwards.'

Recent footage has emerged of what is believed to be the BUK missile
launcher used in the atrocity being smuggled out of Ukraine back into
Russia. Moscow denies involvement and has accused the Ukrainian military in the incident.

Speaking on the CNN program 'State of
the Union', Mr Kerry said: 'We know for certain that the separatists
have a proficiency that they’ve gained by training from Russians as to
how to use these sophisticated SA-11 systems.

The
U.S. intelligence assessment, which was posted on the U.S. Embassy
website in Kiev stated: 'Over the past month, we have detected an
increasing amount of heavy weaponry to separatist fighters crossing the
border from Russia into Ukraine.

'Last
weekend, Russia sent a convoy of military equipment with up to 150
vehicles including tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, and
multiple rocket launchers to the separatists.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, claims there is a build up of 'extensive, circumstantial evidence' to show Russia was complicit in the atrocity. However Vladimir Putin has denied any involvement

'We also have information indicating that Russia is providing training to separatist fighters at a facility in southwest Russia, and this effort included training on air defense systems.

'Pro-Russian separatist fighters have demonstrated proficiency with surface-to-air missile systems and have downed more than a dozen aircraft over the past few months, including two large transport aircraft.

'At the time that flight MH17 dropped out of contact, we detected a surface-to-air missile (SAM) launch from a separatist-controlled area in southeastern Ukraine. We believe this missile was an SA-11.

'Intercepts of separatist communications posted on YouTube by the Ukrainian government indicate the separatists were in possession of a SA-11 system as early as Monday July 14th.'

Speaking on
NBC’s Meet the Press, Mr Kerry levelled some of Washington's harshest criticism
of Moscow since the crisis in Ukraine began.

He said: 'What's happening is really grotesque. And it is contrary to everything that President Putin and Russia said that they would do,'

'There are reports of drunken separatist soldiers unceremoniously piling bodies into trucks, removing both bodies, as well as evidence, from the site.

Victims: Rescue workers load about forty body bags containing the remains of MH17 victims onto a truck at the crash site in the village of Grabovo

Harsh words: Secretary of State John Kerry said: 'This is the moment of truth for Russia'

'The separatists are in control. And
it is clear that Russia supports the separatists, supplies the
separatists, encourages the separatists, trains the separatists. And
Russia needs to step up and make a difference here.'

'Russia is supporting these separatists. Russia is arming these separatists. Russia is training these separatists, and Russia has not yet done the things necessary in order to try to bring them under control,' he said.

Kerry's evidence of a Russian connection tracked closely an official unclassified U.S. intelligence summary released over the weekend. It said intelligence analysts confirmed the authenticity of an audiotape conversation provided to the media by Ukrainian authorities of a known separatist leader boasting of downing the plane.

'We also have information indicating that Russia is providing training to separatist fighters at a facility in southwest Russia" that includes missile systems, it said.

The United States has already imposed sanctions on individuals and businesses close to Putin but Kerry indicated that President Barack Obama might go further.

'The president is prepared to take additional steps," he told Fox News, although he ruled out sending in U.S. troops.

European Union ministers are expected to announce a fresh round of sanctions at a meeting of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council this week, said a statement from British Prime Minister David Cameron's office, issued after telephone calls with French President Francois Hollander and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In a round of television interviews, Kerry cited a mix of U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence and social media reports that he said 'obviously points a very clear finger at the separatists' for firing the missile that brought the plane down, killing nearly 300 passengers and crew.

Yesterday in a 30 minute phone call to Mr Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron told the president that the “world was now watching” and he “must change course and work to bring stability to eastern Ukraine”

The comments came as Britain's Chancellor George Osborne said the UK was prepared to take an 'economic hit' in order to put pressure on Moscow over its involvement in the Ukraine crisis.

Further pressure will be put on Russia at the United Nations today and a meeting of EU foreign ministers tomorrow is expected to result in a more punitive sanctions regime, with Mr Putin’s “crony group” possible targets.

French arms sales and German dependence on Russian fossil fuels have been seen as possible barriers to tougher measures, but Britain will argue that the whole union must share the burden.A No 10 source said the UK wanted additional names to be added to the list of Russians subject to travel bans and asset freezes under the existing criteria for EU sanctions.

These could include “entities” - firms or organisations - as well as individuals involved in supporting efforts to destabilise Ukraine.

But there will also be an effort to extend the scope of the sanctions, to allow those who are influencing or supporting the “Russian regime” to be targeted for sanctions, meaning oligarchs within Mr Putin’s inner circle could be named.

Shortly before Kerry's television appearances, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, released a statement saying experts had authenticated the calls.

'Audio data provided to the press by the Ukrainian security service was evaluated by intelligence community analysts who confirmed these were authentic conversations between known separatist leaders, based on comparing the Ukraine-released internet audio to recordings of known separatists,' the statement said.

A new set of recordings apparently made Friday also appears to implicate rebels in an attempted cover-up at the crash site.

Turning up the Heat: Kerry increased his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russian backed UkraInian Separatists shot down MH17

In one exchange, a man identified as the leader of the rebel Vostok Battalion Alexander Khodakovsky states that two recording devices are being held by the head of intelligence of the insurgency's military commander. The commander is then heard to order the militiaman to ensure no outsiders, including an international observation team near the crash site at the reported time of the call, get hold of any material.

The man identified as Khodakovsky says he is pursuing inquiries about the black boxes under instructions from 'our high-placed friends ... in Moscow.'

In another conversation with a rebel representative at the crash site who reports finding an orange box marked as a satellite navigation box, Khodakovsky is purported to order that the object be hidden.

U.S. aviation safety experts say they are especially concerned the site will be "spoiled" if it cannot be quickly secured by investigators. Based on photographs, they say it is a very large debris field consistent with an in-flight explosion and the main evidence to be collected would be pieces of the missile.

Because the integrity of the plane and actions of the pilots are not an issue, the experts do not believe the flight recorders will yield much useful information.

U.S. and Ukrainian authorities have been at the forefront of accusations that the separatists, aided by Russia, are responsible, although other countries, including Australia and Britain have offered similar, if less definitive, assessments.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a front-page piece in the Sunday Times that there is growing evidence that separatist backed by Russia shot down the aircraft.

Grim scenes: People walk next to a refrigerated train loaded with the bodies of victims, in Torez, eastern Ukraine,

'If President (Vladimir) Putin does not change his approach to Ukraine, then Europe and the West must fundamentally change our approach to Russia,' Cameron wrote.

Putin and other Russian officials have blamed the government in Ukraine for creating the situation and atmosphere in which the plane was downed, but have yet to directly address the allegations that the separatists were responsible or were operating with technical assistance from Moscow.

In his interviews, Kerry accused Russia of "playing" a dual-track policy in Ukraine of saying one thing and doing another. That, he said, 'is really threatening both the larger interests as well as that region and threatening Ukraine itself.'

He lamented that the level of trust between Washington and Moscow is now at a low ebb, saying it 'would be ridiculous at this point in time to be trusting' of what the Kremlin says.

Kerry also said the administration was hopeful that the incident would galvanize support in Europe for increasing sanctions on Russia over its overall actions in Ukraine.

"We hope this is a wake-up call for some countries in Europe that have been reluctant to move," Kerry said, noting that President Barack Obama had signed off on a new round of sanctions on Russia the day before the plane went down.

Kerry made his comments in appearance on five talk shows: CNN's "State of the Union," ''Fox News Sunday," CBS's "Face the Nation," NBC's "Meet the Press," and ABC's "This Week."